Team Dynamics and Organizational Success: Achieving Goals Through Teamwork

Introduction

It has been proven beyond doubt that teamwork is the mother of organizational success when the team dynamics are well-utilized, and the purpose of the team is well-defined. A team consists of individuals with varied competencies, personalities, capabilities, and talents that can be utilized to achieve the objectives of any organization (Doolen et al., 2003). When the goals of the team are achieved, the overall goals of the company are also obtained. That is what organizational success is all about. There are numerous, highly successful organizations in the world. Each of them is made up of teams led by effective team leaders. They understood all the individual dynamics of everyone to harness their strengths for seamless success while ensuring that each weakness does not spill over to disrupt the main purpose of the whole team and the role of each member. Teamwork has been studied for the longest time for the components that bring both success and failure. On both sides of the continuum, new insights and experiences have been realized regarding successes and failures. Team leaders and managers of organizations must be prepared to provide the needed assistance to their teams prosper. Most people who have worked in groups and become successful in the past can recommend working in teams due to the various capabilities and talents that are available in each individual. A common ground has since been held that good leadership in teamwork is the secret to being successful. Because of that reason, team leaders must be ready to consider various leadership strategies that can help drive the purpose of the team forward to achieve organizational goals. It has been a personal plan to work with film production teams, both crew and cast, to produce blockbuster films and documentaries that can be both life-changing and entertaining. Such teams also have particular challenges that can prevent effectiveness hence the failure of the project. This paper presents potential challenges that could hinder production teams, especially the marketing and distribution department, from achieving success, and the potential solutions.

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Background of the Organization and Team Structure

Scholars in marketing and other disciplines have identified the motion picture industry as a domain of research. Organizations dealing with film productions or festivals are tasked with the responsibility of bringing stories to life through dedicated creativity and passion motivated by the fact that films screened can change the world and make it a better place. Organizing film festivals is a tiresome endeavor but also very fulfilling when great films are screened to larger audiences. Film production has numerous departments that must work in unison for the project to come to life. There is nothing as fulfilling and rewarding to filmmakers as when great films make great leaps and breakthroughs to the point of breaking records that have stood for years. The thrill is not only entirely about breaking such records but also the overall impact that films can make and the financial gains that festivals and production companies can amass in the process. The film business is a lucrative industry worth billions, especially in countries like the US (Hollywood), India (Bollywood), Nigeria (Nollywood), and China, where the film has contributed immensely to the economic growth(Eliashberg et al., 2006). Other nations also have their well-developed film industries, which are continually making positive contributions and economic freedom. The motion picture industry has captured the attention of researchers due to the readily available data and its economic importance as a domain. The positive trends in the global film markets have seen revenues from the visual products increase substantially. Film promotion or marketing works in tandem with film distribution. Eliashberg et al. (2006) posited that film producers rely heavily on marketing teams because they are the people on the frontlines, ensuring the film gains awareness and interest from millions of people across the globe. Marketing or promotion teams utilize a wide range of skills to ensure films or movies reach the intended audiences and mapped production houses in other countries, which can later allow people to watch them. The marketing activities for such agencies include advertising campaigns, press releases, franchising, merchandising, media or promotion tours, and interviews with crucial people involved in the filmmaking process. Such people include the producers, directors, or the actors involved. Film promotion, just like in other areas of marketing, follows the fundamentals of product marketing. It is that way because film production combines high levels of financial risks, investments, and creative inputs from a wide of personnel working to make the film happen (Eliashberg et al., 2006). The commercial angle of perception is staked on profits while the creative aspect is for affective purpose and entertainment. As far as business is concerned, films seek to get returns and profits, and it is the marketing and promotion teams that make that happen in association with the distributors. Film studios often spend insane amounts of money, equal or almost half of the overall production budget, to market and promote films. For that reason, marketing and promotion campaigns are done so that revenues can be maximized early within the film’s release cycle(Eliashberg et al., 2006). The publicity of the project is, therefore, of paramount importance, and that explains the importance of marketing teams.

The marketing team structure consists of the director of marketing, sometimes known as the brand manager or marketing executive. This post comes with the responsibility of being the team leader responsible for all the dynamics of the team and refocusing the group’s attention to the main objective. The marketing manager works with a marketing assistant, a publicist, an electronic press it producer, a unit publicist, and a stills photographer. Other members include those in charge of social media marketing, newspapers, television networks, and trailers. A public relations team is also part of the marketing and promotion group as they pitch to editors and maintain the reputation of the brand. The marketing team also organizes press junkets where word of mouth about the film is sent out to the people. Most marketing companies have sales agents who ensure the job gets done; only that slight variations have been observed in different countries depending on the budget and purpose of the film. A well organized and managed team often becomes successful in its endeavors while others fail due to certain problems that can be solved if approached in the right way. Marketing teams have many challenges; however, some are more disruptive to team coherence and purpose than others.

Description of the Problem and Its Cause

Competition for wrong intentions within film marketing teams has resulted in a chain of challenges suggesting that the team is not moving in the same direction. The film industry is built upon connections, friendships, and common interests that lie within individuals working together (Obst, 2010). It is a no-brainer that great individual work in film is rewarded for most positions, and this explains why there is recognition for the best director, editor, sound, and many more like in the Oscars. Heads of sales are not recognized at the festivals meaning each seeks to create their niche and get recognized in their ways. Similarly, individual team members who are not yet big names or are not attached to any professional marketing agencies might want to build their profiles outside with the belief that they can land jobs like getting attached to a marketing agency. Another cause for this challenge is the lack of proper communication among marketing teams as to what exactly they should focus on when marketing the project at hand. Insufficient exposure and changing market trends also cause this challenge(Obst, 2010). Competition not geared towards one direction can disrupt the achievement of purpose and lead to failure. This possibility requires the team leader to utilize appropriate strategies to address these issues.

Coaching Plan

Strategies

The brand manager is the team leader of the marketing department, and the methodologies they adopt to address the issues must be relevant. For the problem of unhealthy competition, as the leader of the team, I would initiate the crucial conversation regarding personal interest and the interest of the whole team. Riodarn (2011) indicated that initiating the tough discourse is the first step in neutralizing unhealthy and unnecessary competition that brings toxicity as people will be chasing personal interests riding on the efforts of the team. Communication is crucial as a lack of it signals the deviation from the major objectives geared towards making visual content known by creating conversations around it. The team needs to be reminded of the fact that they are under specific project guidelines that must be strictly followed for the project to achieve the intended goals as failure to do so comes with its fair share of blame games, and the whole team eventually suffers from it. Similarly, if the purposes of the team are met, the fruits benefit everyone collectively as the financial success of every film hinges greatly on how known the film was by the intended audiences.

How This Coaching Strategy Was Identified

The appropriate coaching strategy is identified by the nature of the problem at hand. In this case, and similar to most teams, unhealthy competitions are often caused by conflicts of interest, whereby some individuals seek to build their profiles outside using the tactics of the team. A visionary leader should be aware of such interest before they happen. Whenever such conflicts of interest occur, it means the team members are not united in one front or direction. This problem could be attributed to the failure of some team members to internalize the long-term purpose and the importance of the task. The best coaching approach considers the fundamental issues in the team, and their root causes how they can interfere with team coherence and the united approach towards achieving an objective. It all begins with communicating the right information, inspiring combined efforts, and helping team members internalize their roles and responsibility as far as marketing is concerned.

Why I Choose This Approach over Other Approaches

While there are numerous other approaches to solve problems within teams, particular approaches are better in solving specific problems than others. Choosing conversation and communication over other strategies is more effective because it targets the root cause of the problem while most others target the effects of conflicts(Hedman, 2016). Team coaching depends greatly on the power of communication and how effectively the team leader can face and address problems within the team. Communication allows each member to identify ways that can hinder the smooth coordination of team activities, thereby blocking success. Also, I chose this strategy because communication features in all levels of coaching while also taking various formats and challenging individuals to work effectively together. Communication is also a constant aspect of coaching style even if objectives change. Every effort towards marketing is talked and discussed on the drawing board as various members in charge of various sectors prepare a plan of action to attain set targets.